"America is afraid to loose 10,000 men in a single battle."*
- Sadaam Hussein, during the Gulf War*
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Date: February 24th, 1991 (G Day)*
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Battle Location: Wadi Al Batin, southeast Iraq*
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Battle Type: Iraq defend vs. US Army advance*
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Last year, your nation, Iraq, invaded a small, oil-rich neighbor in order to take care of its debt of $50 billion, built up after the Iran-Iraq War. You, a seasoned veteran of that conflict, led one of the first armored thrusts into the heart of Kuwait. The euphoria of that early victory has since worn off, however, as you hear of neighboring units being annihalated by the American warplanes. For almost a month and a half you have been stranded here, trying to hide you equipment from the relentless onslaught. Food supplies are running out, and water is in desperately short supply. And your company is fortunate- your fellow Republican Guardsmen have been devastated by bombs and steel rain. Somehow, your unit has been spared this.*
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Just four days ago, a small American scout force ravaged one of your fellow units holding the Wadi Al Batin. You, being one of the most experienced commanders available, were ordered to seal the breach created. For some reason, you feel that the American ground invasion is coming soon. You deploy your forces cleverly, as you learned fighting Iran, deploying your tanks in a reverse-slope position, knowing that the American tanks will be much more sophisticated than yours and will have to be engaged at close range.*
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As you wake up this morning, you have a strange feeling. Clouds of smoke cover the horizon, and you wonder what is going on. Trying to contact headquarters, you find your radios are dead. It seemed that your comrades holding the line in front of you were not up to the challenge. But Americans, as invincible as their weapons seem, have a critical weakness- they cannot afford losses. If you can decisively defeat their forces, their people will loose heart in the war where soo many of their countrymen have died. This thought gives you the strength to order your men to battle positions as night sets in, knowing that this may be their one chance to come face to face with an invincible enemy.
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Epilogue:*
The Battle of Wadi Al Batin (not to be confused with the 1st Cav diversionary attack that took place in the same area four days earlier) was perhaps the closest Iraq came to winning a battle in the first Gulf War. Tanks of the 1st Armored Division roared through the area, only to get involved in a nail-biting close-quarter furball with lead elements of the Medina Republican Guard Division. Two Abrams tanks, the only ones to be disabled by enemy fire in the entire war, were knocked out, although the crews survived (no soldier has ever died inside an Abrams from enemy fire, to this day). The men involved in the battle remembered it as "Fright Night".*
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Source: M1 Tank Platoon II, an old video game by Microprose   